Providing and charging for a generator for use during a power outage.

[Katherine146]

Does anyone have a generator that can be used in case of a power outage? Do you charge the guest if they want to use it? In Florida during Hurricane season it is always a possibility that power will be lost.

[Anonymous]

@Katherine146  Under Airbnb's terms of service, guests are entitled to the use of all the inclusive amenities advertised in your listing, at the rate they paid when they booked. If those amenities become unusable due to a power outage, your choices are to either let the guest terminate the booking and refund the unused nights, or agree on a partial refund in compensation for the missing amenities. 

But if the basic features of your house such as lighting and appliances can only run with a generator, you have to either absorb that extra cost yourself or send the guests away. Airbnb will not back you up on any emergency utility costs, so trying to claim them would only expose you to a bitter defeat and a nasty review.

For what it's worth, I personally think we're at a point where tourists visiting destinations with high environmental disaster factors should expect to pay a premium for the absurd luxury, and buy insurance for the unnecessary risk.  So it wouldn't be out of line for you to raise your disaster-season rates so that they encompass whatever you might have to spend on that generator, if that helps offset your own risk.

[Brian2036]

@Katherine146 

We don’t provide an emergency generator for the rental house but we have stayed in STRs where power outages were fairly common and emergency generators were provided.

In most cases the generators were well maintained by someone who knew what they were doing and ready to go if needed.

 The host provided a full tank of diesel and a full 5-gallon spare container. Guests were expected to buy their own diesel if they needed more.

This seems fair to me.

[Debra300]

@Katherine146,

We have generators at our properties, and do not charge guests if they need to use them.  As @Anonymous stated, this should be considered part of providing the amenities that are stated in the listing description.  It's also a safety measure.  I don't want guests to start use anything with fire for lighting, cooking, or heat.  The longest that we've had to use generator was one day after Tropical Storm Zeta passed through Atlanta.  Even after a hurricane passing in St. Lucia, we used the generator of less than a day.  I will note that we have dual fuel generators, and choose to run them on liquid propane instead of gasoline, because long-term storage in the cannisters is safer and easier than having gasoline in cans.  Plus, since the LP fumes don't smell as caustic as gasoline fumes, the generator has be ran while in the garage or basement with a window open.

[Eric4941]

My Airbnb is about one hour and half away from where I live. I have cleaners and handyman help me take care of the property. However, when winter storm hit us, power supply became very stable. I had to cancel two bookings because of it. It made me wonder if it's worth investing portable or standby generator. The latter is easily going above $10K while portable is much cheaper, but it's unclear if it's safe and convenient enough for guests to operate.  

[Elaine701]

We're off-grid solar powered and naturally, have generator support. 

And even though it can be expensive to run them, particularly in winter when days are short so the batteries never become fully charged, it's not the guest's problem, so we wouldn't burden them with it.

Its not unlike when you have a storm and have to run generators. It's not their fault.